Amar Chand Qais

Amar Chand Qais was an old devotee of Shri Nathji from Lahore. He had become a famous poet after meeting Shri Nathji. Many years had passed and the man was now in dire straits. He had sent a beautiful poem in Homage to Shri Nathji as the Divine Being, and Shri Nathji had asked HH Priya Nath to preserve it carefully.

In 1988, Shri Nathji asks HH Priya Nath to send two hundred rupees to the poet and Priya Nath sends a money order to him. Shri Nathji notes ruefully how difficult it was for poets to earn money and how they lived in great poverty. Over the years Shri Nathji continued to remind HH Priya Nath to send two hundred rupees to Amar Chand Qais whenever he could. The poet remained ever grateful to Shri Nathji till the last moments of his life.

Amar Chand Qais (1902-94) was an Urdu poet. He was originally from Lahore, and latter settled in Jalandhar in Punjab. He is known in the world of Urdu poetry as Amar Chand Qais Jalandhari and also as Allama Kais Jalandhari. He is regarded as a poet of substance.  He was a great admirer of Mirza Ghalib.

Thought he was a Hindu, he is known for his beautiful “Naats” – Naat is poetry composed in praise of the Prophet Muhammad. He also specialized in a style of Islamic poetry known as Marsyia. The word “Marsyia” is derived from the Arabic word “Risa”, meaning a great tragedy or lamentation for a departed soul. It is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain ibn Ali and his comrades of the Karbala.. It is usually in six-lined stanzas with the rhyme aaaabb. Amar Chand Qais poetry can be read in the few books of Urdu poetry like,  Ishq-e-Habib-e-Kibriya, by Mustafa Nazir Ahmad. This book (Whose photograph is given) is published by Saanj Publications at Lahore in Pakistan. This book has a collection of naats (poetry composed in praise of the Prophet Muhammad) by non-Muslim poets.